Pocatello Endurance Festival 1/2 Century Ride Race Report

Last Friday afternoon, my parents and I headed up to Pocatello, Idaho for our races. My dad and I were doing the 1/2 century ride and my mom was running the 1/2 marathon. We arrived at our hotel and just laid around for awhile. My dad had worked the night before so he was pretty tired. When the race check in opened, we headed over to the bike shop to pick up our race packets and then grabbed some dinner at a mexican restaurant. The salsa was fantastic and I ate some yummy fish tacos. We headed back to the hotel and I crashed at 9pm. Apparently, I was wiped out because I didn't move until 5:30am. I went back to sleep until 7am.

Around 8am, my parents and I headed out to grab some breakfast. I have never done a bike race before, so I wasn't really sure what to eat. I ended up eating a piece of bacon, 2 eggs, some hashbrowns, a piece of french toast, and some skim milk. It definitely tasted good. We headed back to the room and started loading up and headed out to the race. We arrived at the park, unloaded the bikes, and started putzing around. My mom was all hyped up to go, but my dad and I were pretty kicked back.

Before the races started, I laid on the grass and relaxed. I was feeling good and prepared for the race. The course had 4 loops and my dad and I had decided to take the first loop easy and then see how it went after that. We watched the kids races and then it was time for us to start. My dad said to line up at the front and I was totally nervous about that. I'm not a fast cyclist so I didn't want to get run over by anyone. When we lined up I noticed that there were not alot of road bikes and not alot of women and I wasn't sure how that would play out.

So, the race started and we were off. Of course, I forgot to put my bike in an easy gear and we made the turn out of the start up a hill so that was fun. My legs felt like crap and I kept thinking, oh great...it's going to be a long day. My dad was ahead of me and we started cruising along. The course had some good rollers and was alot of fun. We hit the turnaround and then got to ride back into the wind, so my dad and I drafted off of each other. I think I got the better deal because he's alot bigger than I am. We finished the first loop and headed out for the next loop.

I really struggled during the second loop. I'm not sure what was going on, but my legs were tired. I kept thinking that I wasn't even to the halfway point and felt like crap. I tried to catch my dad, but just couldn't get up close enough to draft so I was feeling a little discouraged. We made the turnaround and started riding into the wind again. My dad noticed that I'm a late shifter and a masher. I knew that I was a masher so that wasn't a surprise. He started helping me on my shifting and my legs started to feel better.

On the third loop, I was feeling pretty good. I passed my dad and started pulling him for awhile. We passed a woman and I was very excited because I told my dad at the beginning of the race that I wanted to beat her. We cruised along to the turnaround and then came upon another woman who I had never been close to. I passed her on the uphill and then took off. My dad couldn't even keep up with me. I really started pushing and decided that I was going to be the first woman to finish the half century.

On the fourth loop, I definitely hammered. Oscar was doing great. I saw my dad and he wasn't too far behind me so I thought he would catch me. The woman I passed on the hill wasn't too far behind me either, so I turned it up a notch. I flew through the last loop and even did alot of standup pedaling on the hills. I wanted to finish strong and I knew I could beat the other two women I was racing against. I crossed the finish line in 2:53:53 according to my watch and then headed off to set Oscar against a tree and to find my dad. He came in about 3 minutes later.

We hung out and started looking for my mom. I had passed her 4 times so I knew she would be coming. I walked over to the food table and was completely grossed out by the dried out Great Harvest Bread and the brown apples, so I just filled up my water bottle with some water and hung out in the grass. My mom crossed the bridge into the park and was really struggling. I ran with her the last 1/4 mile or so and talked to her. She was really struggling.

Anyways, I ended up winning the women's 1/2 century...out of three women. I averaged 17.2 mph. My average HR was 179 so I was definitely working hard. My dad came in second place out of the men. We had a blast and I am totally looking forward to another cycling event. Oh, my nutrition...I finished two bottles of Heed and 2 packs of Clif Blocks on the bike.